Flangeway bar guard block



April 23, 1957 H. s BISHOP FLANGEWAYBAR GUARD BLOCK Filed Nov. 22, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

HOMER STERLING BISHOP BY Quuw 5 9m ATTORNEYS April 23, 1957 H. s. BISHOP FLANGEWAY BAR GUARD BLOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV 22, 1955 INVENTOR. HOMER STERLING BISHOP BY ATTORNEYS United se Patent 2,789,771 FLANGEWAY BAR GUARD BLOCK Homer Sterling Bishop, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Kasle Steel Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

Application November 22, 1955, Serial No. 548,305 1 Claim. (Cl. 238-9) This invention relates to a flangeway bar guard block and more particularly to a block for holding a guard bar spaced from and parallel to a railroad rail so as to provide a space adjacent the rail, to receive a railroad car flanged wheel when the track is surrounded by street paving or the like, to provide a smooth road surface for motor vehicles over the railroad track.

It is an object of this invention to provide a flangeway bar guard block which may be used to hold a guard rail. adjacent a railroad rail, and which may be easily and quickly connected to the railroad rail and at the same time be capable of sustaining extremely heavy loads of motor vehicle traific crossing the railroad tracks.

Another object of this invention is to provide a flangeway bar guard block provided with a channel for enveloping the foot or base of the railroad rail so as to snap the block to the rail and hold the block to the rail rigidly and at the same time be sufficiently strong to sustain heavy loads.

These and other objects of my invention will become apparent upon reading the following descriptions of which the attached drawings form a part.

Referring to the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of a railroad rail and street pavement surrounding the rail and showing a bar guard in position and supported by a bar guard block connected to the rail.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top view showing a plurality of bar guards in position upon a railroad rail and supporting a bar guard.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the block per se.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the bar guard and showing a rail in position.

Fig. 5 illustrates the bar guard and shows the rail being inserted into the bar guard rail receiving channel.

Where railroad tracks cross a street or motor vehicle pass-over, it is common practice to pave the street up to the track in order to eliminate the bumps of the roadway upon vehicles crossing the tracks. However, in this situation, it is necessary to prevent the street paving from completely surrounding the rail, since railroad wheels are provided with flanges which ride parallel to the rail and therefore must have clearance to pass along one side of the railroad rail.

Thus, in paving such a track and street intersection, it is common to provide a bar guard which is spaced from the rail on one side thereof to provide a channel to receive the flange of the railroad wheel.

Referring to Fig. l, a railroad track rail shown in cross section is indicated at 10, and my novel flangeway bar guard block designated as 11 is shown in position supporting a bar guard 12 spaced from and parallel to the rail 10. In this case, the street paving 13 extends up to the guard bar 12 but not to the rail itself, thereby providing clearance for the wheel flange. On the other hand, the paving 14 at the opposite side of the rail, ex

tends up to the rail leaving the top of the rail exposed to contact the railroad wheel.

The rail, which is conventional, comprises a head 15 upon which the wheel rides, a riser 16, supporting the head and integral with the foot 17 which has two halves 18 and 19 extending a sufficient distance to form a good support for the weight imposed upon the head 15.

My novel block 11, comprises a body portion 25 provided with a channel 26 into which the bar guard 12 is inserted and supported. A number of bar guard blocks are used and are spaced apart two to three or more feet depending upon the expected load, to hold the bar guard in proper parallel relationship with the rail 10.

The body portion 25 of the block is provided with a side 27 shaped to conform to the contours of the riser 16 and the top of foot portion 18 near the riser 16 of the rail 10. Thus, such side of the block is nestled tightly against the riser 16 of the rail 10. In addition, the body portion is provided with a knob 28 which fits snugly underneath the under portion of the head 15 of the rail 10. Thus, it can be seen that the body portion beginning at the top of the foot portion 18 near the riser 16 is in snug contact with the rail portions adjacent the body portion.

In order to hold the block to the rail and to sustain the weight imposed upon the bar guard 12, means are provided for snap fastening the rail foot to the bar guard block. This snap fastening means comprises a flange 30 spaced from the bottom of the body portion'25 of the block and secured thereto or integral thereto through a depending flange 31. The flange 3% extends a suflicient distance to seat the foot 17 of the rail and terminate in an upstanding flange 35 adapted to fit around the foot portion 19 of the rail.

The foot portion 18 of the rail extends into the space or channel 32 between the body portion 25 and the flange 30. Thus, it can be seen that the rail and block are in constant contact for a large part of the surface area of the rail and that the flange 3t) by enveloping the foot 17 retains the block in constant contact with the rail.

In order to snap the rail and the block together, as indicated in Fig. 5, the flange St) is relieved at 33 to form a downwardly sloping area to thereby permit the rail to be canted into the channel or space between the body portion 25 and the flange 30. Thus, in installing the block to the rail or in the alternative, the rail to the block, either the block or the rail is positioned so that the rail enters into the channel 32 and may then be pounded into such channel 32 and positioned with the foot 17 in contact with the flange 31 by means of hammer blows.

With such a type construction, any heavy weights imposed upon the bar guard, is absorbed by the rail by the point of contact 40 between the foot portion 18 and the body portion 25 and also by the foot 17 being in contact with the flange 30 as well as the additional contact between the knob 23 and the under side of the rail head 15 and the contact between the body portion side 27 and the riser 16. it is obvious that any such load is thus transmitted to a number of points along the rail so that a tremendous load may be easily absorbed without displacing the bar guard or disengaging the block 11 from the rail.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following attached claims and accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of one operative embodiment of my invention and not in a strictly limiting sense. Having fully described one operative embodiment of my invention, I new claim:

In a flangeway bar guard block for easy attachment to or removal from a mounted rail having a vertical Patented Apr. 23, 1957 r se: t pp by n. en g h ad. pon hich a heel may ride and with a supportfoot having portions extending horizontally from each side of the riser, With the bar guard'block being arranged for holding a bar guard in spaced, parallel, and rigid relationship to the. rail and for bounding a pavement; said bar guard block comprising a body portion having a side formed complementary to the riser of the rail and formed to rest against the riser between the foot and head, and having an upwardiy opening deep vertical channel spaced from said side for the reception of a bar guard; the improvement which con.- sists of a single piece spring grip means formed integral with the block body for underlying the rail foot and for fric'tionally and resiliently grasping and tightly locking the block body to the rail foot, said means consisting of three flanges, the first flange depending front the block body at a point remote from the riser engaging side there of and below the groove, the second flange being integral with the first flange and transversely extending from the lower edge thereof and spaced from the body and extending towards and past the riser engaging side to form a channel for receiving one; foot portion of the rail and extending a sufficient distance to lie under the entire foot of the rail, and the third flange being an upstanding flange at an edge of the second flange arranged to engage a free edge of the other foot portion of the rail; said three flanges last named being arranged to be sprung onto the rail foot by forcing the foot receiving channel of the block onto one rail foot portion and springing the upstanding flange around and in contact with the edge of the other rail foot portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS I l i 

